In many instances of seriously ill or seriously injured patients, constant monitoring of the patient's fluid balance is required. For example, patients who have been severely burned or sustained multiple injuries in motor vehicle accidents may, as a result of their condition, lose or gain body fluids beyond a safe limit. Obviously such patients cannot be readily removed from a hospital bed for repeated weighing in order to constantly monitor their body weight changes which could be indicative of critically important physical conditions. Moreover, it is desirable that patient weight be constantly and accurately determined so that appropriate corrective action may be taken by the attendant medical staff, if and when necessary. Prior art bed scales which are currently commercially available are designed principally for use in connection with blood dialysis procedures and are not readily applicable to the type of constant patient weight monitoring function envisaged by the present invention.
Accordingly, it is highly desirable that a patient weighing system be provided which gives a continuous display of weight for such seriously ill or injured patients and, in addition, a constant display of change of weight, as well. Such a change of weight display should indicate the total amount of loss or gain in weight to within at least one pound or a fraction of one pound together with visual presentation of the patient's current total weight.